House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told The New York Times in a Monday interview that she has trouble believing Republicans will regain the House come November.
"Forget that," Pelosi said to those pointing out the poor performance historically of an incumbent president's party in their first midterm election. "We are talking about the future. I don't care about what happened in 1946."
"Part of it is, I cannot believe anybody would vote for these people," she continued, attributing the Republican midterm strategy to "endless lying and endless money."
Her comments land as Democrats have experienced a tough month in midterm generic ballot polling. According to a RealClear Politics average, Republicans are favored by three percentage points over Democrats, 47.8% to 44.8%.
That's a noticeable shift from mid-September, when Democrats led by a little over one point and appeared to have the clear momentum.
"The urgency of saving our democracy is real," Pelosi told the paper, acknowledging that her statement could be perceived as fearmongering. However, she believes the moment requires it.
The speaker also shot down the idea that the Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade was fading as a central issue for voters, telling elected Republicans that if "you think that, you go think that." She added: the abortion issue "is not in the rearview mirror."
Meanwhile, some Democrats from the outside have taken a far more pessimistic approach. Progressive marketing veteran Mark Longabaugh suggested to Politico last week that he believes "it's clear Republicans have seized the upper hand."
"Look, man, I've been at this for 30 years, and it is always the period in late September and early October when an election starts to tilt and move," Longabaugh told the outlet. "So, we're at that moment, and I don't think you can look at these numbers across the country and say anything, but it looks like it's moving in [the] Republicans' direction."